Once Upon a Quinceanera (post 3)

.:Quote #1:. "To adress this "queen for a day" atmosphere, the diocese of Phoenix issued quidelines about a decade ago: girls and this families were to participate in a series of Quinceanera classes and retreats." - page 92, Julia Alvarez

.:Significance:. I know this quote might not seem like much but I think that it actually is. It relates with question 6 which states: How do the charecters maintain this cultural ties to their homeland while living in America? It relates to this question because the girls have Quinceanera to try and keep thier cultur alive and share it with other people. Even though they aren't in their homeland, they still have to perform the same amount of practice and respect to their cultural tradition.

.:Charecter Judgment:. This is just a charecter judgment for all the girls that have to go through a Quinceanera. Although they have to go through so much, they stay tuff through the whole thing. And in the end, it is all worth it.

.:Question #1:. If you were from a place where everyone had to perform something traditional at a certain age and you moved from that place to another place that though your tradition was weird, would you still keep the tradition alive?

.:Quote #2:. "Trying to track down the origins of the Quinceanera tradition is a little like playing that old party game, telephone. A whispers some news in B's ear, then B recounts the news to C, all the way around the circle. By the time the news has come back to A, and is pronounced out loud, it has morphed into a skewed version of whatever it was that A claims to have origianally said." - page 111, Julia Alvarez

.:Significance:. This quote relates to the question: what was the journey like coming to America? It relates to this question because they had to leave their countries/ homelands knowing only so much about the traditions there.

.:Personal Connection:. I have a connection with this quote because my mom and dad. They are both from different places with different traditions. I only know so much about it. But not enough to understand it fulley.

.:Question #2:. What is one tradition in your family that has been carried from a different country?

Lit. Circle 1: Once Upon a Quinceanera

Once Upon a Quinceanera

By: Julia Alvarez

Quote 1: "The first couple of years were difficult. The world we knew had ended, and now we were stuggling to stay afloat in the overwhelming newness of everything. Money was tight." -Julia Avlvarez, page 23

Significance: This quote relates to the question "What hardships do the charecters endure as they make a new life?" It relates to this questions because they went through hardships like not having enough money when they first moved here. So that is why her dad had to start his medical carrier and going to school for it. Although they came here for good living, I don't think that they knew how hard it was going to be.

Personal Connection: I have a personal connection to this quote. It doesn't have to do with me, but with my mom. She first came here to the U.S. when she was about 10. She came with a whole bunch of family. Although they came here for a better life, they had no idea how they were going to start it because they didn't have much money.

Question: From reading this quote, do you think that it still happends (people not having enough money when they first come here)? If so, what do you think they did about it?

Quote 2: "We were arguing, answering back, sneacking around. My parents would definitely have agreed with the conclusion of the COSSMHO study: long-term residency in the United States was beggining to ruin their girls" -Julia Alvarez, page 24

Significance: This quote relates to the questions "How do the charecters maintain their culture ties to their homeland while living in America?" It relates to this question because now that they have moved to America, they are starting to hang out with new people and they suck in a bit of that person. So they start acting sorta like them. And wanting to be like them. So it is hard for them to stay culturized in a different enviernment.

Personal Connection: My personal connection with this quote is that I am exactlly the same. Once I start hanging around certain people, I start to want to be just like them, dress like them, and act like them. I actually think that most girls are like this in a way.

Questions: Do you think that you are the same as Julia and her sisters? Why or why not?

Field Trip Reflection

Part One (Haven to Home) : The purpose of this exhibit was to learn of the Jewish culture and what they had to go through when they first came to America. The following facts are some things that I learned in the exhibit. 1654 was when the first Jews came to America. They weren't allowed to worship publiclly but in 1740, the did and many people were upset. Ernstine Louise Rose had helped with arranging marrages. And was one of the first jewish women to be apart of something big. Hank Greenburg was the first jewish baseball all star who almost beat Bebe Ruth's record. Many people were mad because they didn't like the fact that Hank was jewish. Ruth Handler was a very bright and smart woman. She created the American icon, the barbie doll. Haym Salomon became an important financil figure and leader of Philidelphia's Jewish community. George Washington had wrote a letter to the jews saying that no one in the government should be racist to them.

Part Two (Children of Immigrants) :One picture that stood out to me was a picture of a mother and daughter from India at the O'Hare International Airport for the New Immigrants Arrival in 2000. In the picture, it shows a mom and daughter with a small suite case. Which showed me that people really do come here for a good living and for a better pay. The quote that I chose says "The greatest thing I hope for in my life is to become a sucessful person and to have a family and friends to support me, not to be looked at just by the color of my skin but who I am inside." By Samira Durakovic. I chose this quote because it shows that many people have struggles in life by being judges by the color of their skin. And they only want to be seen for who they are insde. Also, because I know many people that have this struggle in life.

Immigration Reflection

An immigrant is someone moving from their home countries to another. One reason why an immigrant might want to move to our country is because we get more freedom here then they do somewhere else. Also, they could get paid more money then they did working in the fields by doing something else. Like working at a grocery store or anywhere else. One other reason is because here in the united states, we have a say in what goes on. For example, we have a black president and in some other countries, they aren’t even allowed to have a black president.
Our country has many things to offer, like I said before, the pay is probably better so they have a better chance in providing for their whole family. And, I think we also have family support. And not a lot of countries have enough money for that. One way that immigrant have affected our country is by culture, language, food, and laws. Now that there are all sorts of races in the U.S., they have brought many different cultural foods with them. And they are sharing it with the whole world. Also, when we hear many different people talking different languages everyday, we learn more and more. Many different languages are being taught in schools.
Due to immigration, I think that my life has changed just a little bit. If people from other countries weren’t allowed to immigrate, I wouldn’t have some of the friends I have now. Also, most of my family is from Asia, so I wouldn’t be able to see all of them if they weren’t allowed to immigrate.